Forrest Griffin Steals the Title from Rampage at UFC 86

First, congrats to Forrest Griffin for a very hard-fought battle, showing superior strategy and drive!

In a close bout, Forrest Griffin out-pointed Rampage Jackson to win the UFC light-heavyweight title at UFC 86. By my scoring, the first round went to Rampage, while the second round clearly went to Forrest as he delivered vicious kicks to Rampage's leading left leg. The third round saw Rampage pick up the pace again, probably winning the round. Rampage did a decent job of attempting to end the fight in the fourth round, but would not push the pace once he started landing good shots. By the fifth round, Rampage looked as though he'd hit a wall. He got off two or three decent flurries, but not enough to counter Forrest's overall aggression.

I had the fight going to Jackson by three rounds (1, 3, 4), and Forrest by two (2, 5). The judges saw the fight differently.

Forrest Griffin becomes the first UFC title-holder to have started his UFC career on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter series. (Forrest Griffin was the winner of season one of The Ultimate Fighter.) Undoubtedly, this fact will be used as marketing fodder for the future of the series, as Spike is poised to begin airing season eight at the end of July.

I can't wait to see how the light-heavyweight division is shaken as several top-level fighters edge their way toward a shot at the division's title.